Healthy Kid's Menus in Restaurants

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Our Nutritionist Paula Mee will be advising on the nutritional content of the meals, and our chef Richie Wilson will be overseeing the nationwide chefs making the dishes and changing their ingredients to make the dishes more nutritional.

Richie does a cook off with our 4 chefs from the provinces and recommends how to change the ingredients and cook the dish to make it more nutritional. Richie will oversee their cooking and also prepare a wild card which is nutritious and is served on most kid's menus in Ireland.

Today our fist restaurant stepping up to the challenge and representing Munster is The Gallery Restaurant & Bar in Mallow Co. Cork.

The Afternoon Show's Nutritionist Paula Mee has visited the 4 nationwide restaurants, overviewed the menus, cooking practices and cost issues. She has advised our chef Richie Wilson on the nutritional changes to make to one selected dish per restaurant.

The Afternoon Show's Chef Richie Wilson worked with Paula on the menus and took her advice on changing the dishes ingredients and cooking practices for the chefs. He presented the new ingredients and ways of cooking the 4 dishes to the 4 chefs during a cook off. They prepared their dish with Richie's advice, and he prepared a wild card dish which featured in the restaurant's menus.

The Facts:

. 11.6% of Irish girls aged 5-12 are overweight while 13% are obese.

. 10.5% of Irish boys aged 5-12 years are overweight while 9.2% are obese.

. 40% of Irish children exceed the recommended maximum of energy intake from fat.